In offering therapy to individuals with Anxiety and/or Depression, art therapy offers an effective and safe way for clients to explore complex and overwhelming emotions. Through using simple materials like markers, paper, air dry clay, collage, and fabric, clients can find new ways of exploring old issues and self-directed paths to stability.
Art Therapy is a creative based therapy modality that acts on the belief that externalizing the internal process is inherently therapeutic. The process of "making something with your hands" offers clients the opportunity to see their issues in a new way, sometimes giving a sense of distance and release, other times offering an opportunity to see an experience in a completely new way. The art process usually includes verbal therapy as participant's address their life experience and find, through creatively expressing how they may feel stuck, a new road forward.
Sometimes, the work may be as simple as, "I made that, I am not an artist, but this is how I feel, look, can you see what I mean?" Other times, clients can find, through rejecting what they have made, a safe way to explore letting go of maladaptive coping strategies. Through a variety of directives (art exercises) suggested by the therapist, or through self directed exploration of the materials by the client, a new visual narrative is created, and the client gets a deeper sense of how they got where they are. As the therapist stores the artwork over time, an art review can offer a powerful way for the client to see the changes in their experience.
Workshop objectives:
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